New Orleans and West

December 7, 2008


After our 2 night stay in the Rigolets we headed up into Lake Pontchartrain and under the I-10 bridge which was a 75’ tall interstate that we could easily pass under with our 64‘ mast. This was the second bridge we had passed under since Marathon Key and even though we had a chance to measure the height of the mast when it was pulled from the boat to confirm the height, it still looked like we would hit it when we went under it.
About 100 yards after the bridge we made a right and headed towards shore to Oak Harbor marina following the markers for the channel. We had talked to the harbormaster and asked about the depth going into the harbor. He said with our 7’ draft it normally wouldn’t be a problem but we were at low tide and it was the lowest tide he had seen in 2 years. He also told us that he bottom was soft mud and that we should be able to power thru it.
About 500 feet from the marina the depth sounder said we should be aground and the boat started to slow down. During the worst of this we showed a depth of -1.2 feet and we were moving at 1.2 knots with the throttle wide open. We finally made it to the harbor where the depth was over 10 feet.
There where 2 docks in a harbor that could easily hold 10 docks, we later found out that there were 10 docks before hurricane Katrina but they were all destroyed. We found our slip, docked the boat and went to check in. It was nice to be safely tied to a dock with shore power.
Later that night while waiting for a pizza to be delivered, the gate guard showed me pictures of the destruction with 40 foot power boats lodged between the condo buildings that surrounded the marina. The guard told me that he had taped an illegal parking ticket onto the hull of a boat and when the owner arrived to survey the damage he thanked him for making him laugh instead of crying.
Additional pictures taken by a resident during the hurricane showed that the water had raised up 6 feet out of the harbor and another 8 feet to the balconies on the second floor. There were pictures of the road that led to the condo/marina complex. It was lined with dozens of boats that had floated past the condos and were stopped by the row of trees next to the road.
It’s one thing to see these images on TV but it is completely different to see them in the place where it happened. This perspective greatly increases the impact of the images.
The next morning we motored a short distance to get fuel and were surprised to see diesel at $4.65 per gallon, not that it mattered, they were closed during the week in the off season. We had some fuel, not sure how much, and 20 miles to go across Lake Pontchartrain to get to New Orleans where we could hopefully get some fuel.
There was a decent breeze so we sailed most of the way across the Lake and after some research on the internet we found that there was a gas dock open just around the corner from the city marina where we had reserved a slip for the night.
We filled up and were pleased to find that their diesel was only $2.58 per gallon, a full two dollars cheaper than the place that was closed.
We entered the marina and went down between the wrong docks and had to turn around. The boat is 47 feet long but with the dinghy hanging off of the davits in back we were about 52 foot long and the distance between the 2 docks was about 60 feet. Julie offered to spin the boat around and I gladly let her. After a successful 6 point turn we went around to the correct slip.
Going ashore to check in we found the main building empty but spotted a worksite trailer a little further down on the seawall. We walked down and checked in. It had been had ripped thru over three years before they were still working out of a temporary facility and would be for few more months until repairs were complete.
Inland from the marina was a 10 foot tall concrete wall with huge steel doors opened to provide access to the marina. Later we found out that we were in the 9th ward where some of the levees had been breached during Katrina.
While walking to a local grocery store we passed an empty store front in an otherwise occupied and busy strip mall with water marks on it that were 8 feet up. A block away there was a townhouse complex with about 150 upscale units that was completely unoccupied. There were signs of work being done on some of them but many of them sat there with windows and garage doors torn off, it was odd to say the least.
We were still beat so we rented a car and decided to do some errands and some sightseeing.
When we had to get towed in the Rigolets the Sea Tow captain asked if we were going to the French Quarter and suggested that we go to Pat O’Brien’s. We said we would go there and he told us to call him when we arrived, it seems that his best friend from college was the general manager and he wanted us to get the royal treatment after all of our problems.
Upon arriving at Pat O’Brien’s we gave captain Christian from Sea Tow a call and he said he would give us a call right back. We were standing in the courtyard when we saw a guy walk down the stairs talking on his cell phone and looking around. I asked if he was talking to Christian and he said yes to me, goodbye to Christian and introduced himself.
For the next hour we got free drinks, a tour and a detailed history of the original French Quarter drinking establishment which had it’s roots in the speakeasy days and created the infamous rum drink called a Hurricane.
We ate a tasty dinner at the Gumbo Shop and strolled around for an hour taking in the sights of the French Quarter, which is actually a National Park. The only park that liquor is not only allowed but appears to be encouraged. This would be evident by the fact that after dark the streets in the Quarter are barricaded off and you can roam the streets sipping your favorite libations.
At the far end of one of the streets we strolled down we came into an area that was filled with topless bars. There was even one that claimed on it’s marquee that they had the most gorgeous transvestites anywhere. We turned around and headed back when we were confronted by a hawker trying to sell the bare wares that were inside the doors of the establishment. We said no thanks to which he replied “ It’s OK, couples are welcome, it’s family night”. We burst out laughing and kept walking.
The next day was Sunday and we left the city marina and sailed 5 or so miles to the mouth of the industrial canal to another marina where we would spend the night and venture off at first light. The next day we had the task of getting thru the canal and all of the barges and ships that traverse it. Like all vessels we had to use the industrial locks that keep Lake Pontchartrain out of New Orleans then venture down a few miles of the Mississippi then as far down the ICW as we could get.
Sunday morning we left the marina and motored a mile to the first draw bridge in the industrial canal and requested an opening. The bridge tender replied that the traffic gate (just like a gate at a train crossing) was malfunctioning and it would take a little time to stop traffic. After 15 minutes we called back and asked humbly, as we always did, what was going on and how long it was going to be, He came back that the electrician would be there in ½ hour to fix the gate. We replied that we were going to find somewhere to park and asked that he gave us a call on the radio when the gate was fixed, he agreed to do that.
We went back to the marina where we had spent the night and finally at 9:00 we got the call from the bridge tender that we could come thru and we did.
As we motored down the Industrial Canal we first passed by a facility that built huge 100 foot plus luxury yachts and then hundreds of fishing boats and ships that had been destroyed and washed up on the shore by Katina. The scenery ran from one extreme to the other.
Our next huge obstacle was the Industrial Locks that according to some of the guides are almost impossible to get thru and pleasure craft were not welcome. Julie was concerned about going thru the locks so she had called the day before to speak with the lock master to ask about procedures.
As we approached the locks we radioed ahead to request an opening to which they replied that they would open momentarily and that we should drive in and they would throw us lines to hang on to when the gate on the other side opened.
To those who are not familiar with locks, they are a means to bring boats from one body of water to another that is at a different height. The basic theory behind them is that a boat pulls into a lock and watertight doors close behind them. There are doors on the other end of the lock that then open allowing water to enter or exit the locks until the water is the same level as the water outside of it. The level of the water can change in a lock anywhere from a few inches to 40 feet depending.
You may ask why anyone would want to do this and there are numerous reasons. The Panama canal joins the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans shortening the trip from Japan to New York by thousands and thousands of miles. The canal does not go straight across the Isthmus of Panama but goes up over a mountain range that runs through the center of the country. Boats are raised up going thru locks up to the crest of this ridge and lowered down thru the other side using additional locks.
Where we were the locks separated Lake Pontchartrain from the Mississippi river and the change was only a raise of a foot though during the spring flood season the difference was 14 feet or so.
Anyway we entered the locks and immediately the guys on the lock yelled down that we were under arrest. I didn’t get it at first but Julie was laughing and I realized that she had quoted the one guide book that talked about getting crushed or getting arrested. Seems she had mentioned that we were coming through in the morning aboard a 47’ sailboat that didn’t want to get squished and apparently we were the only vessel that matched that description this morning.
We talked to the lockmaster and got as much “local knowledge” that he could spare regarding the next leg of the days travels. The entire process took 15 minutes and we were not crushed by a barge or arrested.
While in the lock we had tried to contact the bridge tender in the draw bridge that was 100 feet beyond the exit of the locks to no avail. The lockmaster suggested that they were probably in the bathroom and called them on the phone. We now had an appointment for a bridge opening as soon as the locks open.
We bid the folks at the lock farewell, passed under the drawbridge and headed down toward the Mississippi.















Industrial Locks with drawbridge beyond



Our next goal was to head south 5 miles down the Mississippi, turn left into the Algiers canal and locks. As we motored out into the Mississippi we passed ships that were washed up on the shore from Katrina and many more that were anchored in the river in designated anchorages. There were ships ranging from 400 to 800 feet long from ports all around the world sitting at anchor waiting for something.
We quickly found ourselves nearing the Algiers locks so we contacted the lockmaster and asked to be allowed to pass thru. He told us that there 4 barges heading eastward, opposite from our westward course, that would be coming thru in a little bit and told us to wait outside the locks off to the side to wait for them.

Ships at anchor on the Mississippi

Boats on the shore after Katrina

It was pretty windy and we were having a hard time staying in one place so we turned around and head the ¼ mile back to the Mississippi river where we could go in slow circles and have some control. As soon as we headed out the lockmaster came on the radio and scolded us for leaving the staging area. Julie explained that we did not steer well at low speed so we need to retreat to where we had more room to maneuver. The lockmaster quickly came back and told us to stay in the area we were to the south of the opening to the Algiers canal until the first barge came though then we were to come into the locks and pass through.
What he hadn’t said was we were to come thru and get the hell out of the way but that unspoken direction seemed pretty obvious to us. Even though we have equal rights to the waterways with commercial traffic and equal responsibilities we were learning that the professionals would just as soon let us go thru early and have us out of their way.
We successfully passed thru the Algiers locks and continued on towards the city of Lafitte where we would make a slight detour of a couple of miles to a marina where we were told they had 7’ depths and we could spend the night. Along the ICW from New Orleans until you get to Galveston there are very few marinas designed for larger boats, especially a sailboat, since the water outside of the ICW tends to run on the shallow side in the bayous and swamps. Not to mention the hurricane damage.
We motored 3 miles down to the marina in Lafitte (which was named after the 19th century pirate Jean Lafitte) and proceeded to get stuck before we could even enter the small harbor. We decided to try to tie up along the outside break wall, along the main channel, but ran aground about 5 feet from the shore. Apparently the woman that told us that our 7 foot draft was no problem didn’t know what she was talking about ,so we motored back to where we had turned off of the ICW and found a place to anchor for the night.
The next morning we continued west down the ICW with no particular destination since there were no marinas for several hundred miles beyond this. We had left civilization for a while and enjoyed the scenery.
That evening we anchored on the side of the ICW in a small bay ,surround by swamps and a handful of small trees, that was not full of oil harvesting equipment.
I took Ziggy to shore and both of us almost fell victim to the quicksand like mud. I put him on shore with his lifejacket on and he tried to walk inland. Within 5 feet he sank in ¾ of the way up his legs, struggled to get out and made it to a tuft of grass in this muddy bog. For the first time ever he went potty, “Good boy go potty”, while wearing his lifejacket.
I coaxed him back into the dinghy and tried to row back out where it was deep enough to motor back to the boat. Somehow we had gotten stuck in the mud so I tried to use the oar to push away from land, I soon discovered that we were definitely stuck.
I jumped off of the front of the dinghy onto a piece of wood and used the oar to shove the dinghy further away then laid a branch in the mud to step on to get back in the dinghy. After a minute more of pushing we were back in deeper water. Ziggy was going to have to wait until we found real land the next day before he had the chance to get back to shore.
Back on the boat we set up a lantern in the cockpit, put together some snacks and poured a glass of wine so we could relax, reflect on the day and enjoy this unique landscape. Then the mosquitoes came. I wanted to get a picture of our repast in the setting sun and Julie agreed to pose even though the swarm was arriving. I took a few shots when she proclaimed that we were done and we both grabbed our snacks and stuff and dashed below and closed up the cabin. Thank goodness it was late fall otherwise the bugs would have been really bad .